Closers Shouldn't Get Clawed Back on Commission Just Because a Client Refunds

Closers shouldn’t get clawed back on commission just because a client refunds(can’t wait to watch the shirts fly with this one…).Listen.If a company sends a lead that’s PROPERLY nurtured (like… actually warmed up 90% of the way there),and the closer closes them without breaking protocol, and the client later refunds…That refund is NOT automatically on the closer.And their commission shouldn’t automatically get taken away.Here’s the distinction the gooroos keep refusing to make:Yes, a chargeback CAN be sales-caused…but it isn’t ALWAYS sales-caused.Correlation isn't causation.And the most common founder cop-out is:“They charged back, so the rep must’ve done something wrong.”Ehhhhh, no.That’s a logical fallacy.It’s retroactive blame.A refund is an outcome.It is not proof of misconduct.If you want clawbacks to be fair, you need pre-defined, provable triggers, like:the rep misrepresented something / was unclear / flat out lied,they skipped compliance, sold outside ICP or violated documented company protocol.But “any refund = clawback” isn’t that, at all.It's also not "high-standards" like some would have you think.It’s bad business and lazy management.Because what you’re really saying is:“We don’t trust our product, fulfillment, or onboarding enough to own our own refunds…so we’re going to make the CONTRACTED GUY (who, mind you, isn't even employed with the company) eat the risk.”To boot, if you don’t have QC on the front end, you're setting closers up to lose no matter what they do:“Close as many calls as you can.”Check.“Wait why did this person refund?”Clawback.That’s the High-Ticket Casino version of moving the goalposts.And creating environments that force the people who work with you into "damned if you do, damned if you don't scenarios"is a sure-fire way to knee cap your own business.If you want clawbacks to be fair, do the adult thing:QA calls EARLY, define sales-caused refunds, and give reps a clean dispute process for any fringe cases.Otherwise, are you really managing a sales team...?Or just offloading the risk of YOUR business onto commission-only contractors.So for the founders who want a culture so strong competitors try to steal your closers…Pay your closers to close.And stop using them as insurance for your broken process.